


Assassin's Blade

by Mertiya



Series: Story Circle [14]
Category: Magic: The Gathering
Genre: Flashbacks, Gen, Memories, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Tumblr Prompt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-30
Updated: 2016-09-30
Packaged: 2018-08-18 18:02:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,115
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8170796
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mertiya/pseuds/Mertiya
Summary: A tussle in a Ravnican street doesn't go the way Gideon expects.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to sergeantoblivious for the prompt, siegeerson for the initial ask, zombieella and everyone else who contributed to the post, and ecurps for doing a lovely take on this same idea.

            This hadn’t been part of the plan. Practicing planeswalking as a group had been Jace’s idea, but Gideon had thought that it was a good one. Neither of them had expected that they’d manage to pop back into Ravnica in the center of a dispute between the Rakdos and the guildless, however, and now they were in some trouble. At least, Gideon thought in irritation, as he blocked a particularly enthusiastic cackler with his sural, their formation was holding—he and Nissa in the front, Chandra and Liliana at the back, and Jace—the physically most vulnerable member of the group—tucked neatly away in the center.

            At one level, it was more of an inconvenience than an actual threat, or it would have been, if they hadn’t all been so tired. Jace especially had been practicing hard on the other plane, and by the time they’d left, Gideon had noticed that he was drooping badly. “Don’t do any more magic today,” he had cautioned the mind mage, because Jace would drive himself well past the point of severe exhaustion and into dangerous territory if he weren’t stopped. He needed time to regain his manabonds.

            A sudden burst of motion to Gideon’s right, too far for him to catch, was a hooded figure in a grey cloak. A momentary glint of light in their hand showed the lawmage that they were holding a dagger. “Chandra!” Gideon called, because she was going to need to intercept. “’Ware assassins!” There was no response. Gideon’s head whipped round. “Chandra?”

            “GET BACK HERE, ASSHOLE!” came from entirely the wrong direction, and Gideon groaned as he saw Chandra about thirty feet away, chasing a giggling goblin. And if Chandra wasn’t there—

            _Jace_. Gideon’s heart leaped into his mouth as he swung fully around. The mind mage was standing loosely in the center of the square, mouth slightly open, face almost dazed, as the assassin darted at him. At his side, one hand belated curled into a fist—a fist with the thumb on the inside, because of course Jace couldn’t even remember that much self defense.

            Gideon was already running, but he knew he was going to be too late—there was no way to get there fast enough, and if the assassin was skilled, there might not even be enough time to get Jace to a healer before— _please no. Not again. Don’t let me lose another friend._

            The grey-cloaked figure dove at Jace, who moved at what had to be exactly the last second, body language changing so suddenly Gideon’s brain almost couldn’t process it. The knife skittered shallowly along Jace’s side, but there was no solid thunk of blade in flesh, because Jace simply wasn’t in the same place anymore. One blue-gloved hand reached out, caught the attacker’s wrist, and twisted _hard_. Just as Gideon managed to get within sural distance, the blade dropped into Jace’s left hand—and he was _terrible_ with his off-hand, he barely even remembered it was _there_ most of the time, but now he was pivoting gracefully on his foot into an arc that would have put some of Gideon’s Irregulars to shame, and there— _there_ was the sound, the ugly dull noise of blade penetrating body. But it wasn’t Jace who was crumpling over, falling to his knees in the mud.

            Gideon gaped at the body of the would-be assassin, looking from it up to Jace, who immediately tensed up, moving up onto the balls of his feet and holding up the blood-stained knife defensively. “Jace?” Gideon said, blinking in confusion, and an odd furrow appeared in Jace’s forehead.

            As they stood there, the tide of Rakdos and guildless finished sweeping past, leaving the Gatewatch basically alone in the streets in front of the body of the person Jace had just—stabbed to death.

            “Oh, shit,” Liliana said succinctly, walking up to Gideon. “Well, do something about the body, muscle boy. We can’t just leave it in the street, the Azorius will fuss.”

            “Did you see that? I kicked his _ass_ —” Chandra was running excitedly back as well. “Wait—what the fuck happened here?”

            “Chandra,” Gideon said in frustration. “There is a _reason_ I asked you to stay near Jace.”

            “Sorry.” Chandra kicked at a loose stone in the street. “I kind of—got distracted.”

            “Jace?” Nissa was saying. “Jace, it’s all right, we’re safe.”

            Jace was glancing from one of them to the other, his eyes dark and troubled. He paused almost in relief as he lit on Liliana. “Lili?” he said slowly. “What’s going on?”

            “Jace,” Liliana said, and Jace shook his head minutely. She sighed explosively, then stepped forward and slapped him, once, hard, across the face. “ _Jace Beleren_ ,” she snapped. “You are not Kallist.”

            Jace’s eyes flared with cold blue light, and his hand opened around the dagger, which clattered to the street. “Oh, _fuck_ ,” he said, and then he was bending over, emptying his stomach into the nearby gutter. Liliana took an uncertain, hovering step toward him, and he shrank back from her, slipping and nearly falling on the wet cobblestones. “Don’t touch me,” he said hoarsely. “Don’t come _near_ me.”

            She halted, took a deep breath, and then stepped back with a shrug.

            “Gideon,” Jace managed through retching noises. “I’m not sure I can keep standing upright.”

            Forcing his still-stunned limbs to move, Gideon managed to catch him before he crumpled to the street. “I’ve got you,” he said, putting a careful arm under his shoulder. “You’re fine.”

            “Th-Thanks,” Jace managed. “Sorry. S-S-Sorry.” His teeth were chattering.

            “Good job not dying,” Gideon responded. “You don’t have to apologize.” He glanced around at the other three. Nissa and Chandra were exchanging confused looks, and Liliana’s face was a careful study in monotony. “Let’s get back to Jace’s office,” Gideon said firmly. He didn’t know exactly what had just happened, but he could feel the rapid trembling in Jace’s muscles, and he wanted to get the mind mage back to some place where he could sit down and relax, preferably for the rest of the day.

            “Thanks,” Jace murmured again, still sounding sleepy and dazed. He was barely managing to hold himself up even with Gideon’s help.

            “Jace,” Gideon said, “would you mind if I picked you up?”

            Startled blue eyes looking up at him, and then Jace shook his head tiredly. “Thanks. Sure.”

            “All right.” Gideon bent over and carefully lifted Jace off the ground. Too light. He’d need to speak with Lavinia about making sure Jace ate more. “Come on,” he said to the rest of the Gatewatch. “Let’s go home.”

            If anyone found anything odd about his choice of words, they didn’t say so.


End file.
